PATERSON – The lawyer for former councilman Aslon Goow says Paterson has no basis for trying to force him to pay more than $500,000 to cover municipal legal expenses stemming from his failed federal civil rights lawsuit against the city.

In court papers filed on May 9, the lawyer asserted that the city must show that Goow’s lawsuit was “frivolous, unreasonable and without foundation” for Paterson to recoup the fees from the ex-official.

The attorney, Ryan Lockman, wrote that the proceedings proved that Goow’s case was reasonable and showed “that he was subjected to a witch hunt by the Paterson Police Department.”

“These acts by the police department could easily lead a reasonable person to believe that his rights were violated and that a lawsuit against the PPD was valid and appropriate,” wrote Lockman, of the Philadelphia-based firm of Mark Frost and Associates.

Goow sued the city alleging that the police department conducted an illegal Internal Affairs (IA) Division investigation of him after he tried to chase down a crime suspect on Dec. 24, 2006. The police department ended up issuing him a speeding ticket as a result of the probe, which included a review of his expunged criminal records.

Goow lost the case and his appealed was denied in March. Court documents revealed that the city did, in fact, conduct an IA probe of Goow, a private investigator who also works as a special police officer in Haledon. But the determination was made that his rights were not violated.

The city’s acting law director, Domenick Stampone, declined to comment on the battle over the half million dollars in legal fees. He referred questions to the court documents.

Earlier this year, lawyers for the city argued that Paterson is entitled to the fees because the city prevailed in the lawsuit. The city’s lawyers also contended that Goow was unwilling to resolve the case when Paterson offered him a $50,000 settlement. The city’s lawyers also said Goow had a “fiduciary” responsibility as a sitting councilman not to cost taxpayers’ money.

But Lockman contended that the city – as the target of the lawsuit – had to do more than simply prevail in the case to seek legal fees. Lockman said court precedents held that the city needed to prove that Goow’s case was “frivolous” in order to force him to pay the fees. Lockman said the fact that the engaged in “good faith” negotiations to settle the lawsuit proved that Goow’s complaint was not frivolous.

Moreover, Lockman wrote that the city’s argument regarding Goow’s fiduciary responsibility as a councilman was a “ludicrous” position because it would preclude all government officials from taking legal action against the entities they served.

Both sides have argued in court documents that a June 2013 Paterson Press story about the rising legal costs of the case prompted the opposition to stop negotiating a settlement.